Bank bill storing machine

ABSTRACT

An object of the present invention is to provide a cash handling machine which opens and closes a shutter in correspondence to a condition of a money amount approval by a user, keeps a security and can strictly manage the cash. A bank bill storing machine is constituted by an upper unit executing a counting process and a lower unit keeping bank bills, the upper unit is provided with an openable temporary reservation tray arranged in a temporary reservation portion temporarily accumulating bank bills to be received, the lower unit is covered by a safe-shaped covering member and is provided with a shutter for security which can be opened and closed, and a bank bill storage shutter which can be opened and closed automatically or manually is arranged in a bank bill storage receiving the bank bills to be received.

The present application claims priority from Japanese applicationJP2005-219897 filed on Jul. 29, 2005, the content of which is herebyincorporated by reference into this application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a bank bill carrying and storingtechnique which feeds input bank bills one by one and carries each ofthe bank bills to a temporary reservation portion or a reject storageportion on the basis of a judged result of the bill, and thereafterstores the temporary reserved bank bill to a bank bill storage or bringsback to a user.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

The bank bill storing machine installed in a shop such as a retail shopor the like and mounted to a bill receiving machine to which sales ofthe shop is received generally has a mechanism of feeding the billsinput to the bank bill input portion one by one, carrying the bank billto the temporary reservation portion or the reject storing portion onthe basis of the judged result and thereafter storing the temporarilyreserved bank bill to the bank bill storage or bringing back to theuser. For example, JP-A-2001-67526 discloses a structure storing thetemporarily reserved bank bill in the bank bill storage, however, thestructure is made such that a temporary reservation portion temporarilyaccumulating the bank bill to be received and a bank bill storageportion storing the received bank bill are arranged on a front side.

The structure is conventionally made such that only a designated amountis received, however, elements constituting the machine are structuredsuch that the temporary reservation portion accumulating the bank billsto be received is arranged in the upper unit, and the storage portionstoring the received bank bills is arranged in the lower unit, and areservation tray provided in the temporary reservation portion is openedto connect the upper unit and the lower unit. However, in accordancewith the present structure, since it is necessary to make the upperportion of the storing portion be always in an open state in order tocarry the bank bills accumulated in the temporary reservation portion,it is not preferable in view of security.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a cash handling machinewhich opens and closes a shutter in correspondence to a condition of amoney amount approval by a user, keeps a security and can strictlymanage the cash.

In the present invention, a bank bill storing machine is constituted byan upper unit executing a counting process and a lower unit storing bankbills, the upper unit is provided with an openable temporary reservationtray arranged in a temporary reservation portion temporarilyaccumulating the bank bills to be received, the lower unit is covered bya safe-shaped covering member and is provided with a shutter forsecurity which can be opened and closed, and a bank bill storage shutterwhich can be opened and closed automatically or manually is arranged ina bank bill storage receiving the bank bill to be received.

Further, the structure is made such that security is enhanced by settingthe reservation tray provided in the temporary reservation portion, theshutter for security and the bank bill storage shutter to be driven bythe independent drive sources.

In the present invention, by arranging the security shutter in an upperportion of the bank bill storing portion, the lower unit for storing thebank bills is covered by the covering member in the bank shape, so as toset the opening and closing mechanism in a closed state except the bankbill storing motion.

Further, in this standby state, since the bills are in the covered stateby the covering member, it is possible to strictly keep the bank billswhich are stored on the basis of the approval by the user so as to bemanaged.

Further, it is possible to make it impossible to take out the bank billswithin the storage by a user except a superior manager and a securitycompany having a locking right, thereby, so as to keep the security.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description of the embodiments of theinvention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view showing an embodiment of abank bill receiving machine (a bank bill storing machine);

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of a money receivingmachine to which the bank bill storing machine is mounted;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of details of a temporary reservationportion of the bank bill storing machine, and an upper portion of a bankbill cassette;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the bank bill cassette; and

FIG. 5 is an operation flow chart showing an outline flow of a moneyreceiving and storing process of the bank bill storing machine.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A description will be given below of an embodiment in accordance withthe present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a money receiving machine 1 mounting a bank bill storingmachine in accordance with the present invention therein. The moneyreceiving machine 1 also serves as a storing apparatus which isinstalled within a shop such as a retail shop, an eating house or thelike, and is provided for receiving and storing bank bills or coins suchas a sale money or the like. The money receiving machine 1 is mainlyconstituted by a cash handling mechanism portion 2 (which is simplycalled as a carrier unit 11) executing a counting process of the bankbills and the coins, and a storage portion 3 storing the bank bills andthe coins which are finished counting. The storage portion 3 is, forexample, a safe, and is structured such as to store a bank bill cassette61 and a coin cassette 61′ therein by opening and closing a lockabledoor, thereby securing a safety of the cassettes 61 and 61′ storing thecash. A main body control portion (simply called as a control portion) 7is constituted by hardware structures such as a CPU, a memory and thelike, and controls a bank bill carrying within the carrier unit 11mentioned below, a shutter of the bank bill cassette 61 and the like. Inthis case, each of ports 22, 32 and 42 will be described in FIG. 1.

Further, the equivalent security to a safe is applied to the storageportion 3. In other words, the structure is made such that the bank billcassette 61 and the coin cassette 61′ storing the bank bill or the coilare accommodated within the safe-shaped storage portion 3 which is firmin structure and is provided with the door. This is based on anoperation aspect of the money receiving machine in accordance with thepresent embodiment. A description will be given below of a reasonthereof.

In general, the power of an operator operating an automatic tellermachine (ATM) installed in a financial institution or the like isdivided into a user executing a money input and output, an attendantpacking the bank bills in the safe or taking out the bank bills from thesafe, and a maintenance operator executing a maintenance in view ofhandling the ATM. The user only put the bank bill to be received in themoney input and output port, or receives the bank bill to be output, andcan not handle the bank bill in a jamming state generated within theATM. On the contrary, the attendant can handle an entire of the bankbills existing within the ATM. For example, in the ATM in which thejamming of the bank bill is generated, the attendant judges whether thejammed bank bill corresponds to a user's possession or an apparatus'spossession in correspondence to a proceeding state of the account(approval of the money amount). As mentioned above, since the user canexecutes the operation only from an external portion of the ATM, theuser can not touch the bank bill within the ATM even in the case that aproblem such as the jamming or the like is generated. The handling ofthe bank bill within the ATM is allowed only to the attendant having amanagement responsibility, and thus, the security of the bank bill iskept as mentioned above.

However, in the case of the money receiving machine (apparatus), theattendant of the financial institution is not near the apparatus due tothe condition such as the installing condition of the apparatus, forexample, the installation in the convenience store or the like.Accordingly, in the case that the problem such as the jamming or thelike is generated before the approval of the amount to be received isfinished, the user handles the bank bill stopping due to the jamming inthe inner portion of the apparatus. Therefore, it is necessary tosecurely distinguish the user's possession and the apparatus'spossession structurally within the apparatus.

In order to strictly protect the bank bill cassette 61 in which the bankbill approved by the user is stored, the bank bill cassette 61 isaccommodated within the storage portion 3 corresponding to a safe so asto be locked. As a result, regarding the bank bill of which the amountis not yet approved by the user, the user can easily take out the bankbill stopping in the inner portion of the apparatus due to the jamming.However, the user can not touch the bank bill which is already approvedand is stored in the bank bill cassette 61. Only the attendant of thefinancial institution having a key for taking out the bank bill cassettecan touch the bank bill which is already approved. Therefore, it ispossible to keep the security of the bank bill within the bank billcassette 61 corresponding to the apparatus's possession.

Next, a description will be given of the structure of the moneyreceiving machine 1 with reference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. FIG. 1illustrates an internal structure of the cash handling mechanism portion2 and the bank bill cassette 61 in FIG. 2, in which the coin cassette61′ is omitted. As illustrated, on a front surface of the carrier unit11, there are arranged a bank bill input port 22 to which the bank billto be received is inserted, a reject output port 32 from which therejected bank bill is output, and a return port 42 from which the bankbill to be returned is brought out. At the back of the bank bill inputport 22, the reject output port 32 and the return port 42, there arearranged a bank bill receipt portion 21, a reject storing portion 31 anda temporary reservation portion 41 in which an upper surface, a lowersurface, a left surface, a right surface and a back surface are formedat sizes in correspondence to a bank bill size by a regulation plate(not shown). Further, the reject output port 32 and the return port 42respectively have a door 33 and a return door 43. The door 33 isstructured to be manually opened and closed, and the return door 43 isstructured to be. locked by an electromagnetic lock (not shown) suchthat the return door 43 can not be opened except an optional timing. Thereturn door 43 arranged in the return port 42 is completely covered onan outer surface by a metal covering member, and the bank billsaccumulated in the temporary reservation portion 41 can be taken out byautomatically opening the return door 43.

The bank bill input from the bank bill input port 22 is fed out from thebank bill receipt portion 21 by a feeding roller, and is carried along afeeding carrier path 51, and a money kind and truth of the bank bill arejudged by the bank bill judging portion 5. On the basis of the judgment,the bank bill to be rejected is carried to the reject storing portion31, and the correct bank bill is carried to the temporary reservationportion 41, respectively. In other words, the traveling direction of thebank bill is switched by a switching gate 55 on a judging carrier path52, and the bank bills are respectively stored through a reject carrierpath 53 and a reservation carrier path 54.

FIG. 3 shows details of the temporary reservation portion 41 and theupper portion of the bank bill cassette 61. Among them, a descriptionwill be given mainly of the temporary reservation portion.

The temporary reservation portion 41 is structured such that a lowerfeeding roller 48 and an upper feeding roller 49 are arranged at aninlet of the temporary reservation portion 41 so as to feed the bankbill into the temporary reservation portion 41. If a leading end of abank bill S1 fed to the temporary reservation portion 41 by the upperand lower feeding rollers comes into collision with a stopper 44, a rearend of the bank bill is pushed down by a reservation storing roller 46in which elastic sheets are arranged in a radial pattern, and the bankbills are accumulated on the reservation tray 45. Further, when storinga plurality of bank bills, the bank bill is sequentially accumulated onthe accumulated bank bills S which are accumulated on the reservationtray 45. In the case that the accumulated bank bills S are stored afterthe accumulation is finished, a storing lever 47 which is retracted to aretracted position 47 a in an upper portion of the temporary reservationportion 41 during the storing motion is descended on the accumulatedbank bills S (47 b), and the reservation tray 45 moves to a position ata retracted position 45 b from a position 45 a accumulating the bankbills by a drive motor of the reservation tray (not shown) while keepinga state of pressing the accumulated bank bills S from the above on thebasis of its own weight or a spring force.

If the bank bill counting is finished by the bank bill judging portion5, and the user approves the counting result, the accumulated bank billsS are descended to a lower position 47 c on the basis of the pressingforce of the storing lever 47, and the bank bills are dropped down to aninside of the bank bill cassette 61. Since the force of the storinglever 47 is always applied to the bank bills at a time when the bankbills drop, by making the storing lever 47 follow to the drop of thebank bills in the drop motion of the bank bills, it is possible toprevent a drop failure generated by a catch of the bank bills, anoblique drop of the bank bills or the like, thereby, securing stabledrop performance of the bank bills.

Further, if the user selects the return after the counting of the bankbills is finished, the accumulated bank bills S within the temporaryreservation portion 41 are set to a state in which the user can take outthe bank bills S by canceling the lock mechanism of the return door 44so as to automatically open the return door 43 on the basis of thespring force or the like, and reclining the stopper 44 while workingwith the return door 43, whereby the accumulated bank bills S arereturned.

Next, a description will be given mainly of the bank bill cassette 61.As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the bank bill cassette 61 is arrangedon a lower front side with respect to the carrier unit 11. Further, ifthe bank bill cassette 61 is set to a loading portion 64 on theapparatus side, the bank bill cassette 61 is fixed by a lockingmechanism 63, however, is formed as a detachable structure which can bedetached by canceling the lock of the lock mechanism 63.

The bank bill cassette 61 has a bank bill storage shutter 65 which canbe automatically or manually opened and closed on a top surface as shownin FIG. 4. The bank bill storage shutter 65 is not opened in a state inwhich the bank bill cassette 61 is detached, on the basis of the lockwithin the cassette, however, employs such a structure that the lock iscanceled by setting the bank bill cassette 61 to the loading portion 64,whereby the bank bill storage shutter 65 is automatically or manuallyopened. In the bank bill cassette 61, the bank bills can be stored inthe storage portion 66 from the top surface by being set the bank billcassette 61 to the loading portion 64 and opening the bank bill storageshutter 65. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the bank bills are piledvertically on the bank bill storing table 62 provided in the storageportion 66 and moving in a vertical direction so as to be stored.Further, the bank bill cassette 61 is structured such that the upper andlower surfaces, the right and left surfaces, and the front and rearsurfaces are closed so as to secure a safe characteristic in a statethat the bank bill storage shutter 65 is closed and the bank billcassette 61 is detached from the storage portion 64, and can be easilycarried while holding a handle 67. In the case that the bank billcassette 61 is in the detached state, the storage portion 66 is largelyopened by opening a front surface door 68, it is easy to take out thebank bills stored in the storage portion 66, and it is possible torapidly execute a recovery work of the bank bills.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a security shutter 71 is arrangedbetween the carrier unit 11 and the bank bill cassette. The securityshutter 71 executes an opening and closing motion on the basis of aslide back and forth, and the bank bills temporarily reserved in thetemporary reservation portion 41 of the carrier unit 11 can betransferred to the bank bill cassette 61 in an open state. On thecontrary, in the case that the security shutter 71 is in a closed state,the security shutter 71 covers an upper portion of the bank billcassette 61, and the bank bill cassette 61 is covered by the securityshutter 71 and the casing safe portion 2 of the money receiving machine1 so as to secure a security characteristic. Further, the securityshutter 71 is operated back and forth on the basis of a drive force of amotor so as to automatically execute an opening and closing motion, andcan execute an opening and closing management at an optional timing,such as an open state is set only at a time of transferring the bankbills from the carrier unit 11 to the bank bill cassette 61.

The bank bill receiving machine (the bank bill storing machine) has acounting process function of counting the bank bills set in the bankbill receipt portion 21 by the user and a money receiving and storingprocess of storing the counted bank bills in the bank bill cassette 61on the basis of the approval of the user. A description will be given ofan operation of the storing process with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 byusing a flow chart in FIG. 5.

In the money receiving and storing process, the user inputs the bankbills to be received from the bank bill input port 22, the bank billsare temporarily accumulated in the reservation portion 41 after beingcounted, and the user confirms the counted result displayed on a displayportion and selects whether the counted bank bills are received orcanceled (step S111). In the case of receiving the counted bank bills(step S111 a), a storing motion is started on the basis of a storingprocess command from the main body control portion 7 (steps S113 toS126), by pressing down an approval key (step S112).

In the bank bill storing machine 10, the bank bill storage shutter 65 isset to an open state at a position 65 b automatically or manually (stepS113), the bank bill storing table 62 is ascended to a portion justbelow the security shutter 71 so as to set in a standby state (stepS114), and the security shutter 71 is moved from a position 71 a to aposition 71 b (step S115). At this time, a bank bill storing guide 69provided in the bank bill storing portion 61 and working with thestoring portion shutter 65 and the security shutter 71 rises up (stepS116).

Next, after the storing lever 47 is descended on the bank bills Saccumulated in the temporary reservation portion 41 (step S117), thebank bill storing table 62 is ascended to a portion just below thereservation tray 45 (step S118), and the reservation tray 45 is movedfrom a position 45 a to a position 45 b (step S119). Accordingly, thebank bills are transferred to the bank bill storing table 62 (stepS120). The bank bill storing table 62 is descended to the portion justbelow the security shutter 71 (step S121) while the storing lever 47pressing the bank bills (47 b, 47 c), and is stored within the bank billcassette 61. When the storing motion in the bank bill cassette 61 isfinished, after the storing lever 47 is retracted to the position 47 a(step S122), the security shutter 71 is moved from a position 71 b to aposition 71 a (step S123). At this time, the bank bill storing guide 69working with the security shutter 71 reclines as shown by a dotted line,and presses the bank bills S from the upper portion (step S124).Further, the bank bill storage shutter 65 is closed (step S125), and thereservation tray 45 of the temporary reservation portion moves from aposition 45 b to a position 45 a (step S126). Further, the stored moneyamount is displayed on the display portion (step S127), and the moneyreceiving and storing process is finished.

Further, in the case of selecting the return of the counted bank bills(step S111 b), the user pushes down a cancel key in the operationportion (step S131). The return door 43 is automatically opened on thebasis of the command of the main body control portion 7 so as to set toa state in which the user can take out the bank bills accumulated in thetemporary reservation portion 41 (step S132), and if the user take outthe bank bills and manually closes the return door 43, the process isfinished (step S133).

As mentioned above, the bank bill storing machine in accordance with thepresent invention achieves the secure money receiving and storing motionwhile taking the strict security into consideration. In this case, asdescribed above, it is one of the features that the bank bill storingguide 69 rises up and reclines as shown by a solid line and a dottedline in correspondence to the opening and closing motion of the securityshutter 71 while working with the security shutter. Further, it is oneof the features that the reservation tray 45, the security shutter 71and the bank bill storage shutter 65 are independently driven.

In accordance with the description mentioned above, the bank billcassette 61 storing the bank bills is loaded within the sotrage portion3, and the security shutter 71 is set to the closed state except thetime when the bank bills are stored in the cassette. Further, since thebank bill storage shutter 65 is provided with the automatic opening andclosing mechanism, the security of the cash management can be secured.In the standby state except the time of storing the bank bills, the bankbills can be strictly kept on the basis of the function of the storageportion 3 serving as the safe and the closed state of the securityshutter 71. Accordingly, the other user (for example, a shop assistant)than the superior manager and the security company having the lockingright of the storage portion 3 can not take out the bank bills withinthe storage portion 3 and the bank bill cassette 61. Therefore, it ispossible to keep the security of the cash. Further, it is possible toexecute the secure storing motion by arranging the bank bill guide 68working with the security shutter 71 and the storing portion shutter 65.

It should be further understood by those skilled in the art thatalthough the foregoing description has been made on embodiments of theinvention, the invention is not limited thereto and various changes andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention and the scope of the appended claims.

1. A bank bill storing machine storing bank bills input to a bank billinput port in a bank bill storage portion, comprising: a temporaryreservation portion temporarily accumulating the received bank bills ona reservation tray; a bank bill storage storing the bank billsaccumulated in said temporary reservation portion from an openingportion, and provided with a bank bill storage shutter arranged in saidopening portion; a security shutter sectionalizing said temporarystorage and said bank bill storage; and a control portion, wherein whenstoring the bank bills accumulated in said temporary storage in saidbank bill storage, said control portion sets said reservation tray, saidbank bill storage and said security shutter to an open state.
 2. A bankbill storing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said temporaryreservation portion is structured such that a lower feeding roller andan upper feeding roller are arranged in an inlet of the temporaryreservation portion, and feed the bank bills into the temporaryreservation portion.
 3. A bank bill storing machine as claimed in claim2, wherein if a leading end of each of the bank bills fed to thetemporary reservation portion by the upper feeding roller and the lowerfeeding roller comes into collision with a stopper, said temporaryreservation portion pushes down a rear end of the bank bill by areservation storing roller in which elastic sheets are arranged in aradial pattern so as to accumulate the bank bills on the reservationtray.
 4. A bank bill storing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidcontrol portion independently controls an opening and closing of saidreservation tray and said security shutter.
 5. A bank bill storingmachine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control portionindependently controls an opening and closing of said reservation trayand said security shutter.
 6. A bank bill storing machine as claimed inclaim 3, wherein said control portion independently controls an openingand closing of said reservation tray and said security shutter.
 7. Abank bill storing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein said bank billstorage has a bank bill storing guide, and a bank bill storing tablemoving upward and downward so as to accumulate the bank bills, andwherein said bank bill storing guide rises up working with an open stateof said security shutter, and reclines so as to press a top end of thebank bills accumulated on said bank bill storing table while workingwith a closed state of said security shutter.
 8. A bank bill storingmachine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said bank bill storage has a bankbill storing guide, and a bank bill storing table moving upward anddownward so as to accumulate the bank bills, and wherein said bank billstoring guide rises up working with an open state of said securityshutter, and reclines so as to press a top end of the bank billsaccumulated on said bank bill storing table while working with a closedstate of said security shutter.
 9. A bank bill storing machine asclaimed in claim 3, wherein said bank bill storage has a bank billstoring guide, and a bank bill storing table moving upward and downwardso as to accumulate the bank bills, and wherein said bank bill storingguide rises up working with an open state of said security shutter, andreclines so as to press a top end of the bank bills accumulated on saidbank bill storing table while working with a closed state of saidsecurity shutter.
 10. A bank bill storing machine as claimed in claim 1,wherein said bank bill storage has a bank bill storing table movingupward and downward so as to accumulate the bank bills, wherein saidcontrol portion sets the bank bill storage shutter to an open state, andwherein said control portion moves up said bank bill storing table to aportion below said security shutter and sets said security shutter to anopen state, and thereafter sets said reservation tray to an open stateso as to transfer the bank bills accumulated on said reservation tray tosaid bank bill storing table.
 11. A bank bill storing machine as claimedin claim 2, wherein said bank bill storage has a bank bill storing tablemoving upward and downward so as to accumulate the bank bills, whereinsaid control portion sets the bank bill storage shutter to an openstate, and wherein said control portion moves up said bank bill storingtable to a portion below said security shutter and sets said securityshutter to an open state, and thereafter sets said reservation tray toan open state so as to transfer the bank bills accumulated on saidreservation tray to said bank bill storing table.
 12. A bank billstoring machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein said bank bill storagehas a bank bill storing table moving upward and downward so as toaccumulate the bank bills, wherein said control portion sets the bankbill storage shutter to an open state, and wherein said control portionmoves up said bank bill storing table to a portion below said securityshutter and sets said security shutter to an open state, and thereaftersets said reservation tray to an open state so as to transfer the bankbills accumulated on said reservation tray to said bank bill storingtable.